


Royal pain

by miss_Splendora



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Frottage, M/M, POV Armitage Hux, Pre-Relationship, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 17:25:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16815148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_Splendora/pseuds/miss_Splendora
Summary: When a magician shows up to King Brendol's court, Prince Armitage is less than pleased with the charlatan's tricks. Until he realizes there is more to Lord Ren than he had imagined.





	Royal pain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Phrixion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phrixion/gifts).



Prince Armitage sat by the king’s side, making sure to mind his posture, and watched over the room. It was his father’s birthday feast, and he knew he had to be on his best behavior, but these gatherings were so tedious. People clamoring over each other to make sure the King saw them attempting to kiss his behind, stuffing their faces with the court’s food, and trying to make connections, quaint little plots, as if he didn’t see them right there, discussing ways to undermine his family’s rule. Still, he understood the importance of those gatherings. He just wished the people attending them were more interesting.

He was closer to thirty years of age now than twenty, and he had some hopes he would be a king himself by that time, truth be told. His own father took the throne at a tender age of 21, and it seemed like ages have passed since then. He did rule the land moderately well, but the man was too decadent for Armitage’s tastes, taking a different wench to his bed every other week, drowning each evening in mead, and surrounding himself with people not by their competence, but by their ability to please him. Armitage saw the incoming crises facing the kingdom, and he just wished he could do anything. He already held some military power, and was doing his best to quench the most worrying outbursts of dissent, but he saw some of the dukes spreading the chaos at the party, and he wished he could just march over to them and behead them on the spot for treason. Alas, that was not his place.

“Beloved guests,” the king said, standing up and interrupting Armitage’s train of thought. “I would like to thank you all for coming to this humble celebration!” The guests cheered and raised their glasses, and Armitage allowed himself a small smile, as in appreciation of the king’s joke. In fact, he found it somewhat gaudy. “I would be a terrible host if I didn’t offer you some entertainment,” the king continued. “And please, welcome Lord Ren to the room!”

The king rang a dumb-looking golden bell, and the door opened. Armitage directed his attention to them, and opened his eyes a little wider at the sight.

A man walked inside, in long, black, billowing robes. He wore some golden jewellery around his hands and his neck, in his ears and his hair, but otherwise his attire was simple, and yet he was commanding the space around him, hypnotizing the guests immediately. People moved away, making room for him, without him having to ask them. His face was pale, and his eyes dark, glimmering underneath long black hair - and Armitage could hardly contain his breath. Everything about the man made him excited. He hadn’t been that excited about someone in ages.

“Lord Ren,” the king smiled, and the man, apparently Lord Ren, nodded. “My beloved guests! This man here is the greatest magician our land has ever seen. He will show off his power to you now, and know he will remain at my court permanently from this day forward, assisting me with his powers!”

And there Armitage’s interest went. A magician! A charlatan here to draw wool over the king’s eyes. He had seen enough of those. The only difference here was the restraint in Lord Ren’s clothes as compared to those whom he saw in the past.

Lord Ren smiled and performed a couple of tricks for the crowd - pretending to make things float and disappear. Armitage didn’t pay attention anymore, and rather focused on discussing some recent military developments with Captain Mitaka, a leader of one of his troops.

The rest of the evening he would describe as uneventful. After his performance, Lord Ren began charming some of the royals, and Armitage was even more determined to make effort to avoid the man like the plague. Still, as the guests left one by one, the trickster stayed behind.

“Prince Armitage,” the king finally addressed him, and he bowed his head in acknowledgement. “Won’t you show Lord Ren to his chambers? I am sure he must be tired. The servants already carried his belongings there. It’s the room across the hall from yours, and you might make yourself useful for once.”

Armitage blinked slightly at that, swallowing the insult coated insult. Instead of showing his dismay, he offered the newcomer a smile and bowed his head to the king. “As you wish, my lord.”

He nodded at the visitor, who already seemed to instill himself so deeply in his life, and did his best to hide his contempt. However, it must have still been apparent.

“I sense your dislike of me,” Lord Ren said after they walked in silence for a while. “I must admit, I did not quite anticipate it.”

“You must be mistaken,” he quickly assured the man. Even if he was correct, it would not help Armitage at all if he admitted it. “I am simply tired.”

“You do not trust me,” he said simply and looked up a bit, as if he was wondering something. Armitage wanted to punch his head off. “And you do not believe I can do anything.”

“I do not believe in magic as such, no,” he admitted. “But the king does.”

“He sounds much more open minded than yourself, your majesty,” Ren offered and glanced at Armitage with a smile. The prince blushed, indignant. 

“I am a rational man,” he said. “I believe in rule based on hard facts, not mirages.”

In response, Ren made a red rose appear in his hand and handed it to Armitage. He took it, still not convinced, and shivered as their fingers brushed against each other. 

“These are your chambers,” he offered and showed him the door. “I wish you a calm and restful night.”

“I shall see you soon, your majesty,” Ren bowed his head and disappeared behind the heavy door. 

In his own chambers, Armitage placed the rose in a glass of water. He should have disposed of it, he knew. He would, eventually. But for now, he just recalled the electricity of the other man’s touch - and could hardly bring himself to removing a reminder of it from his presence.

The next couple of days, the prince found himself increasingly irritated by the magician’s presence. He was there at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He was there when the king ignored the prince or when he berated him. He was there when his father left Armitage behind to discuss politics with his people, and he was there when the king called him to discuss the military tactics. He didn’t even have the decency to remain silent on those occasions - always speaking up, offering his insights, sometimes cutting in before Armitage could say anything. The man was reckless in his ideas, prone to confrontation without a plan, ready to bet on the strength of their armies and political positions to get them where they wanted to be. Armitage did not care for it one bit.

“We can’t attack here without aid from the other side,” Armitage pointed out at one such meeting. Ren simply smiled.

“I will be there to aid your efforts with my power,” he said. “That’s all the support you may need, your majesty.”

The king seemed convinced, but Armitage was so far from it. All he saw was a man trying to steer the king into reckless battles that would squander his forces. And that was something Armitage could not accept.

And then, one day, the straw came that broke the camel’s back. He was alone, preparing orders for his generals, when the charlatan walked in, without even so much as announcing himself. “Your majesty,” he said, and this minimum of decorum was the only reason why he was not thrown out immediately.

“Lord Ren,” he nodded at the man. “What brings you to me?”

“The king’s orders,” he said. “I think, and he agrees, we should strike sooner than you had suggested.”

Armitage did his best to control his face. He was skilled in that, and he was very glad with it for the past few weeks. 

“Strike?” Armitage asked simply. “But that is too soon. Why the rush?”

“We received information of the Queen Organa stationing not far from our battalions. We can strike fast and gain a strong advantage.”

He frowned and stood up. “It’s still too fast. We do not have enough people there.”

Ren shrugged. “I will go in first, and the army will just be a backup. We can get her then.”

Armitage felt his blood boil. “And what will you do there, Lord Ren? Why would you think you can get to her like this?”

“I just can.”

Armitage huffed. He passed by Ren, bumping his shoulder a little. “I need to speak with the king about it.” But before he was out, he felt Ren’s hand around his shoulder, stopping him.

“You just need to send the army where the king is telling you to send them!”

Hux looked at the man, his stare ice cold. “Careful, Ren”, he hissed. “That your personal ambitions do not interfere with the kingdom’s best interest. For I shall not stand for it.”

He tried to get free and opened the door, but it shut in front of him.

“I spoke with the king already,” Ren insisted. The room seemed to dim around Armitage and he tried to open the door again, but the handle would not budge. “We will attack the town. We will get her. My mother shall  _ not escape!” _

The last sentence was punctuated by a movement of Ren’s hand - followed by a table standing to the side of the room flying up to the ceiling and crushing back down to the floor, breaking down and spilling papers and ink all over the floor. Armitage looked on, in shock - and then it hit both of them what Lord Ren had said. The magician paled, and the prince did his best to kept his face neutral - but then the door budged and he finally could flee the room. He left in a rush, happy to note Ren was not following him.

That was a lot to take in.

For the next couple of days, Armitage made sure not to let himself be in the presence of the magician alone. There was always one of his officers there, or some other court officials, but it was never just the two of them. The prince did activate his contact network to learn more of the magician’s past and abilities, but he would rather hire the most expensive spies in the land than ask the man directly about any of it. He did not want to discuss the meeting, and he did not want to find himself in a situation where magic could be used against him; or, worse yet, to admit the magic Lord Ren used was actually real. Now, that was truly unfathomable.

It seemed like he could simply keep up the charade forever, but Lord Ren did all that was in his power to break it up. The man kept sending him long stares, finding excuses to lag behind the king as he was leaving the prince behind, generally seek Armitage’s company. But that was not what Hux wanted, thank you very much. What he wanted was to never have to confront this witch, and if he had to stand more of the king’s beratings about his poor manners, so be it.

He was highly displeased, to say the least, when he found Ren sitting on his bed one night, after Armitage was bathed and dressed in nothing more but a black robe. 

“Your majesty,” the man said softly and stood up. Armitage simply pursed his lips and pulled his robe tighter around him. “My apologies for the boldness. I do need to talk with you.”

“You are being bold indeed,” he said. “I do not see the need for us to talk. I see the need for you to leave my chambers.”

Ren stood up and walked up to Armitage, almost uncomfortably close. “I will leave,” he said softly. “But only once we’ve talked.”

Armitage looked him right in the eyes. The man seemed determined, if nothing else. He might as well listen to him.

“Fine,” he said and walked past him, sitting on his own bed. “What is so urgent that you decided to barge in here like this?”

Lord Ren turned to face him again, moved to sit down on a chair by the door. “My… explosion the other day,” he said, predictably. “I’ve said… too much. A piece of personal information, if you will.”

“I noticed, yes,” Armitage nodded.  _ My mother shall not escape _ . It would be the most shocking piece of data Armitage had received in years, had he also not learned that magic was true that same day. “It was… surprising.”

“I suspect you found it undermining more than anything else,” he huffed. “I just need to know if you are now seeing me as a potential traitor.”

“Well,  _ prince Benjamin _ ,” he said slowly, and took some satisfaction in Kylo’s flinch. “I would have. But I am now aware your heritage was well known to my father, as well as your mother’s lineage. If you choose to align yourself more with your grandfather than her, I can see no reason to think you would betray us.”

Kylo Ren nodded, seemingly thinking through this response. “It’s as much as I could hope for,” he said eventually and stood up. However, Armitage raised his hand.

“Do not leave yet,” he said, and Lord Ren frowned, slowly taking his seat again. “I do have questions yet. Or, more importantly, a single question. Are you truly convinced you can get her defeated with this plan?”

Ren looked at Armitage once more. Then, slowly, he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I am sure. I am not leading your people astray.”

And for some reason, Armitage believed him. It made the tension he held in his shoulders ebb away. He stood up and grabbed the bottle of brandy standing on a table next to Ren, pouring himself a glass. “I wonder what she did to make her own son wish her death so strongly,” he said and took a sip. “Do you wish to share a drink with me?”

Ren nodded, and took a glass once it was offered. “I do not intend to share my life story with you,” he said simply. “She thought me too powerful. Too ruthless. She sent me away to be trained by her brother, and he decided I was too much of a threat. And by then, I had better teachers than him either way.”

“Was that when Prince Luke went into exile?” Armitage hummed. “I’ve only heard vague stories about it, fantastical stories.”

“All the stories I have heard relayed to me were true,” he said simply, and Armitage hummed in reply, returning to sit down on his bed and drinking from his glass.

“I suppose I can understand not seeing eye to eye with your parent,” he said without thinking much. The tension ebbed away a little too far, he realized once he heard the words come out and saw the smile on Ren’s lips.

“Can you now,” he said as Armitage cursed himself. “No love lost for the king from you, your majesty?”

“May he live long and prosper,” he replied simply, downing his drink. Lord Ren smiled and came up with a bottle to refill his glass.”I hold as much love to him in my heart as he holds for me.”

“Which means not much, then? Do not worry, your secret is safe with me,” he whispered. “He is a buffoon if you ask me.”

That had Armitage laughing. “He would have you flogged, had he heard that.”

“Isn’t that what a buffoon is?”

Ren’s fingers brushed against Armitage’s as he took his glass to fill it up. Armitage looked at him and considered. “I suppose you could put it this way.” He took the glass back, and their fingers brushed against each other again. He found it more arousing than necessary and Ren noticed, smiling.

“Enjoying my company after all?”

Armitage looked down and blushed, drinking more. “Do not flatter yourself too much,” he mumbled.

“I hear it has been a while,” Ren noticed. Armitage blushed even harder, and Ren smiled. “Do not worry. It’s just that I have been doing my own research on the people here as well.”

“I am perfectly fine,” Armitage insisted and stood up. They were face to face now, and since Ren did not step back, their noses were almost touching. 

Armitage was not sure how it happened, really. All he knew was, the next second his glass and the bottle were both out of their hands, and instead of drinking, they were kissing.

The kiss was hard and needy at the beginning, rougher than Armitage had ever kissed before. People tended to be careful with him, submissive entirely - but not Lord Ren. Not this man, of equal standing to him in birth and mind. He was demanding, and powerful, and passionate, and so was Armitage, giving him the same attention he was given.

The next thing he knew was Ren’s hands on his back and his hands on Ren’s arms. Then, they were both on his bed, and Hux was briefly on the bottom, being disrobed and kissed on the mouth, on the neck, on the shoulders. He moved his hands to get rid of Ren’s heavy, dark robes, revealing his toned muscles, his moles dotting the pale skin. He smiled and soon rolled Ren on his back, getting on top of him. This man may have been his equal - but Hux still wanted to be in control.

They were naked in the cold room, but it was difficult to feel the cold. They were both hard, but what they were doing seemed easy, natural. Hux pinned Ren’s wrists above his head and rocked his hips against his cock. The man smiled, seemingly enjoying himself, and soon their moans filled the room.

To Armitage’s satisfaction, Ren climaxed first. He came with a moan louder than Armitage had ever heard, and with his climax, the glasses left on the ground clinked against each other, various trinkets among the shelves rose and then fell. Armitage barely noticed this display of uncontrolled power, but it did impact him, and a couple of additional thrusts against Ren’s softening cock made him cum all over their stomachs.

It was the most intense sex he had in ages, he realized as he lay on top of the man, and definitely not what he had expected of the night.

“You rattled the glasses,” was all he said and he felt Ren’s fingers in his own hair. An intimate gesture, a surprising but not unpleasant one. “Could you have cracked them?”

“It has happened in the past,” he said. “I apologize if it is inconvenient. Sometimes controlling my power in those situations is tricky.

“I see,” Armitage sighed. “I had never known a man like you. It… It does make me believe you can walk into a town before an army and only need it for support.”

“I am happy to hear it,” he smiled. “I hope it means I will be able to aid you when you become a king.”

Armitage laughed. “Who knows when that might be. The king is in good health, I must point out.”

“Who knows for how long, he might fall ill sooner than you think, you know,” Ren said and smiled. Armitage looked up at him and smiled back.

“Well,” he said. “I suppose he might.”

“I am looking forward to serve you then, you majesty.”

Hux didn’t reply to that, resting on the man’s chest instead. But he was looking forward to it as well.


End file.
